Rufous Hummingbird — A rare late season visitor

A few weeks ago, on my appearance on “Vox-Pop”, the call-in radio program on WAMC, Northeast Public Radio, I suggested that listeners might like to keep their hummingbird feeders going into October, November – even later if weather permitted. Then I asked that if any hummingbirds do show up after October 1st, that they contact me.

Well this morning, when checking e-mails, I saw a note from a guy in Saratoga County stating that he indeed had a hummingbird at his feeder. He attached a couple of very nice photos which were certainly not photos ofwhat one might think of as the more expected Ruby-throated Hummingbird (well at this time of year, Ruby-throats would be the least expected)

The pictures were of a “Selasphorus” hummingbird, either Rufous or Allen’s, both western species and rare in the east. The Allen’s even more so. The Rufous nests in the Rocky Mountains, and along the Pacific Coast even up to Alaska. The Allen’s is normally found along the California Coast.

The problem is, that the two, especially the females, are difficult to distinguish by sight alone.

I e-mailed the guy back and asked him to call me – especially if the bird did show up again this morning.

Sure-nuf, I received a phone call from him at about 9 30. The bird was at the feeder as he spoke.

Off I went.

When I got there, the homeowner beckoned me around to the other side of the house where he invited me in to watch from the comfort of his enclosed porch.

In only about five minutes of watching, camera in the ready, the bird showed up at the feeder as promised.

I was able to confirm only that it was either Rufous or Allen’s Hummingbird. To clinch the ID, the bird would have to either be photographed in such a way that the tail feathers would show up clearly or it would have to be captured and the tail feathers measured. The bird would not cooperate. She kept her tail tightly folded the whole time she maneuvered around the feeder. So to clinch the identification, we decided to go the next step.

To get to that stage, I contacted Bob Yunick, an expert on hummingbirds and a licensed bird bander – with special experience with hummingbirds. Bob, incidentally, had documented the very first confirmed record of Rufous Hummingbird in New York State by similarly banding one in Washington County about 15 years ago.

Bob arrived with his specialty gear and within only about five minutes, had the bird in hand, ready for the next stage – banding, measuring, and releasing – after a few photographs, of course.

After the bird was released, it took a little longer for her to return, but she did after about a 20 minute hiatus, presumably checking to see if the coast was clear. After that, she returned at her regular intervals, continuing up to when I left, satisfied that all went well.

The importance of capturing and banding these vagrant hummingbirds cannot be overstated.

In recent years, Rufous Hummingbirds have been seen with more regularity along the east coast – far from their normal wintering grounds of the southwest down into Mexico and Central America.

There appears to be a change in the migratory, and perhaps even, the distribution of these western species. In the past twenty years or so, several western species have begun appearing in eastern North America. These species include the Rufous, Calliope, Broad-tailed, Allen’s, Costa’s, and Buff-bellied Hummingbirds.

Banding the occasional individual has determined – the identity of the individuals, and also their return and survival rates. There are returns that clearly show that they can survive, return to their home territory and again to their wintering grounds. Of course the sample size is small, making each rare opportunity to gather much needed data all the more important to our understanding the changing pattern – if there is one.

Of course, we’ll keep an eye on this one, and watch for any others.

If you haven’t taken your hummingbird feeders in yet – don’t. If you have, put them back out.

Who knows. You might have one of these rare colorful gems show up in your yard.

3 Responses

More and more I’m hearing of the Rufous being sighted around New York. It was good advice to keep the hummingbird
feeders out a little longer. I imagine a lot of the flowers that they like are going dormant for the winter and the little hummies will need extra calories for the migration.